The MP for Reading East has denied Surrey County Council got a "sweetheart deal" after a dramatic u-turn on proposals for a 15 per cent council tax hike.

Rob Wilson MP said the authority had been offered the chance to pilot a new business rate scheme which would see it keep 100 per cent of its business rates, but said this would not happen until 2018/19.

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Talking to getreading about funding in Reading and the Surrey u-turn, the Conservative politician said: "It's not a sweetheart deal, it's not a special deal, it's a deal that a lot of authorities can go for.

"It is interesting that Reading Borough Council along with five other Berkshire councils have written to the Chancellor to ask to be part of the deal as Berkshire, rather than as the six unitary authorities.

"You would have thought if they were doing that Reading Borough Council would be seeking the support of their local MPs, they didn't even mention it to me.

"So it's a bit odd on one side to say 'our MPs don't help us', but on the other hand they don't tell us what's going on from their point of view so we can offer to help."